Salmon run, so Alaskans flock

Nation & World - SPOTLIGHT | 'COMBAT FISHING'

September 5, 2009|By Kim Murphy, Tribune Newspapers

KENAI, Alaska - There are those who think of fishing as a contemplative sport. They, however, would not be most Alaskans, at least not when the sockeye start making their summer rush up the Kenai River. During the long-lighted days of July, the scenic riverbanks become a battle zone - man vs. fish, man vs. man - a place so far past traditional, sedentary angling that it's known here as "combat fishing."

"There's maybe as many as 10,000 people that come down to this beach. ... People will stay out here in 50-degree weather in the rain. But we're all having a blast," said Brenda Crim, a Baptist missionary from Texas now posted in Anchorage.

"You step right into Alaska culture when you go out on that beach," she said. In a good year, 4 million sockeye will navigate up the emerald river that cuts through grassy peaks, low forests and tangles of pink lupins before spilling into the sea. Here it's less about sport and more about food - fish that costs $9 a pound or more in the supermarket can be had for the trouble of a Sunday drive.